The Weekly Daf #351
Nazir 13 - 19
Issue #351 Parshat Noach
Week of 1 - 7 Cheshvan 5761 / 30 October - 5 November 2000
By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach Institutions
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MAKING A NAME FOR HIMSELF
If one hears another Jew make a vow to be a nazir in the event that a
son is born to him and he declares "Me too," there is a question
raised as to his intention. On the one hand we can interpret his
statement as a vow that he too will be a nazir if a son is born to
himself. Alternatively, there is the possibility that what he really
meant was that he too will be a nazir if a son is born to his friend,
and the "me too" was a declaration that we will love that son as much
as his father does and therefore will express his gratitude to Heaven
in the same manner by assuming nezirut.
This unresolved question is presented in our gemara by a sage names
Ben Rachumi whose name appears nowhere else in the Talmud. An
interesting observation is made by Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chayot about sages
who made such solo appearances. These sages became so identified with
their single statement that they were called by a name referring to
it.
One example is Rabbi Yitzchak Migdalah who explains the mishna
(Mesechta Bava Metzia 25a) which rules that if one finds three coins
placed one upon the other he must assume that they did not fall from
their owner in such fashion and were abandoned, but rather were placed
there and forgotten, a situation requiring the finder to announce his
find. This is only true, says this sage, if the coins are found in
the pyramid pattern of a tower, with each coin lying on one broader
than itself. Since he used the model of a "migdal," Hebrew for tower,
to make his point, he was subsequently referred to as Rabbi Yitzchak
Migdalah.
Another example is Rabbi Zuhamoi (Mesechta Berachot 53b), who made a
solo statement that one whose hands are greasy from eating is
ineligible to say the birkat hamazon after a meal. Since he used the
term "mezuham," Hebrew for greasy, he was thereafter known as Rabbi
Zuhamoi.
In the same manner, our gemara's question regarding a vow for nezirut
which might be interpreted as "love for the son," the sage who
presented this question was called Ben Rachumi which means a "son who
is loved."
* Nazir 13a
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THE SIN OF SELF-DENIAL
Self-denial can sometimes be spiritually counterproductive. Rabbi
Elazar Hakapar derives this from the fact that the Torah refers to the
nazir as a "sinner." The only sin we can find in regard to the nazir
is the fact that he denied himself the pleasure of wine. If one who
abstains from wine alone is called a sinner, he concludes, how much
more so is one who denies himself everything and indulges in fasting
considered a sinner!
The only problem with this sage's deduction is that the Torah calls a
nazir a sinner only in the case where he defiled himself through
contact with the dead and must bring sacrifices of atonement and start
his nezirut period from the beginning. There is no mention of sin in
the Torah regarding the nazir who successfully completes his nezirut
period without becoming impure.
Rabbi Elazar Hakapar responds to this challenge by pointing out that
every nazir is really a sinner because of his self-denial but the
Torah explicitly applied this appellation to the nazir who became
impure because he magnified his sin.
This statement seems to run counter to a previous gemara (Nazir 3a).
The first mishna in our Mesechta teaches us that one who declares "I
shall beautify myself" is considered as having taken a vow of nezirut.
The Sage Shmuel explains that since he was holding on to his hair when
he made this declaration it is understood that his intention was to
beautify himself before Hashem through the nezirut mitzvah of
abstaining from cutting his hair. How can nezirut be considered
beautiful before Hashem, asks the gemara, if the nazir is called a
sinner? The answer given is that Rabbi Elazar Hakapar was referring
only to a nazir who became impure and not to a regular nazir.
Tosefot (Nazir 2b and Bava Kama 91b) resolves this contradiction as
follows: Every nazir is called a sinner because of his self-denial.
There is, however, a positive aspect of nezirut when it is utilized to
control illicit passion. Nezirut can therefore be considered
beautiful before Hashem because the positive element outweighs the
negative one. A parallel to this is the case of one who is commanded
to fast on Shabbat because of a bad dream. Even though fasting on
Shabbat is wrong, the positive aspect of counteracting the evil
portent of the dream outweighs this and he must go ahead with it, and
later he must atone for his sin of fasting on Shabbat by fasting on
another day in the week. When it comes to the nazir who becomes
impure, the negative aspect is dominant because he magnified his sin
and the Torah therefore calls him a sinner.
There are several explanations in the commentaries of what is meant by
magnifying his sin. One is that by having to start all over again he
has added days to his period of self-denial. Another is that in
addition to self-denial he has violated, even if only through
negligence, the Torah ban on a nazir coming into contact with the
dead. A third approach is that because he has to start all over again
he may have regrets that he ever took upon himself such a vow and thus
lose credit for the positive element in nezirut.
* Nazir 14a
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Written and Compiled by Rabbi Mendel Weinbach
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
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